(LifeScript Health News) Remember all those stretches you used to do in junior-high volleyball? They weren’t good for you. Physiologists now agree that “static stretching” – holding a stretch for 20 to 30 seconds – does more harm than good.
Researchers found that athletes generated less force from their leg muscles after those long, static holds than they did after not stretching at all, according to a recent study conducted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Other studies have found stretching decreases muscle strength by as much as 30%.
Instead, trainers and physiologists recommend “loosening” tendons and muscles, and getting the blood flowing toward them with constant movement. To get the muscles ready, physiologists now recommend “dynamic stretching,” or stretching the muscles while moving.
See All Health Alerts